band with him." He approached the kid and asked him if he would beinterested in starting a band. He agreed to bring his bass and play with him and thus Adam Clayton had joined. With Larry playing drums and Adam playing bass, they knew they needed to find some guitarists so Larry stuck a note on the noticeboard looking for some guitarists to try out. Some people responded and the all got together to play. Among the attendees were Dick and Dave Evans, who had brought there own homemade guitar which looked better than it sounded but it impressed Larry. Another fellow by the name of Paul Hewson showed up without a guitar but he insisted that he could play one.
The five of them plowed through some Rolling Stone covers and a spark was lit even though the music may have left something to be desired. A band was born and they called themselves, "Feedback." They began spending lots of time together and with the same group of friends. To make themselves standout, they decided to give each other nicknames. Dave Evans became "The Edge" and Paul Hewson became "Bono Vox" after a hearing aid store, which is Latin for "Good Voice."

the band was ready to become more serious. They began writing their own material and made a final name change to "U2." Some of U2's early tunes included, "The Fool," "Cartoon World," "Shadows and Tall Trees," and "Out Of Control." Bono had written "Out Of Control" about his later mother who had died when Bono was a young teenager. As the band played more and more shows, they gained a small following and realized that they would need a manager. They settled on Paul McGuinness. Paul led the band through many practices and eventually got them a deal in 1979 with CBS Ireland. They soon released a limited edition EP titled U23. The EP contained three songs, "Out of Control," "Stories For Boys," and "Boy/Girl." Through a radio contest it was decided "Out of Control" would be the A-side" and the EP quickly shot up the Irish charts.
Early U2 Finally in 1980, the band got its first big record deal. Island Records signed them to a four record deal. The band's first release was the single, "11 O'Clock Tick Tock," followed by, "A Day Without Me." The band then shortly released its first LP, "Boy." Rolling Stone Magazine gave the first album *** 1/2. They found "I Will Follow," the first track on the album to be great but they thought the rest of the album was not quite on the same level. They concluded, "U2 is talented, charming, and potentially (they're all still under twenty-one) exceptional."
U2 continued to blow live audiences in Europe away with their energy and passion, but they knew they still had a big challenge in front of them: America. U2 arrived in the states in early December of 1980. They were scheduled for an eight day tour of the East coast. A few days after the arrived in America, John Lennon was shot and killed in New York City. In their concert that night, U2 played John Lennon all night and locked themselves in their room after the show refusing to go to the after concert party. Most of the people in the audiences of their first American concerts had come to dance but by the end of the shows, U2 had quite a few converts.

Britain. Two months later, "War" was released and was an instant success. "War" soared up the charts to #1 in the UK and huge sold out shows followed. "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" became an immediate crowd favorite. The band then went back to America and played for sold out shows for three straight months. The album received from Rolling Stone who said it was, "their most fulfilling work yet."
With all their success, their manager, Paul McGuinness, wanted to try to put together a full length concert video and an accomanying live album. They chose Red Rocks, a place by Denver, Colorado to make the recordings on June 5th. The rain poured all through the concert but the band continued and the show was excellent. The concert was released under the title, "Under A Blood Red Sky" but only two songs from the album were actually taken from the Red Rocks performance. The rest came from shows in Boston and Germany. Again U2 received from Rolling Stone and with the release of that album, U2 had finished a big chapter in their career.
In the bands' timeoff after "Under A Blood Red Sky," The Edge married his girlfriend of 6 years, Aislinn. Also, with their four album deal with Island now up, U2 and Paul McGuinness negotiated a new deal with Island giving them more artistic freedom and also quite a bit more cash.

Band of The Eighties With three studio albums done, U2 were looking for a new direction to go musically. They enlisted the help of producer, Brian Eno, and headed back into the studio. In October of 1984, "The Unforgettable Fire" was released. The album didn't seem to have the raw energy the first three did. This seemed more of an "artsy, atmospheric" album. It may not have been what U2 fans were expecting but songs like "Pride (In The Name Of love)" and "Bad" became fan favorites. It received *** and a not so favorable reviewfrom Rolling Stone but it shot to the top of the charts. U2 went on to play to sold out shows all over the world for the next year. In March, they appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone along with the headline: "Our choice: Band of the Eighties."

Achtung! U2 arrived in Berlin in October of 1990 to start work on their next album. They rented a house in East Berlin and were set to start recording in Hansa Ton Studios in Berlin. The band had set out to make a darker album and during this time, The Edge and his wife, Aislinn, divorced further influencing the album. The band returned to Dublin and put the finishing touches on the album. In October of 1991, U2 fans were in for a shock when "The Fly," the first single off the new album was released. The distorted guitar and dark sound wasan entirely new U2. "The Fly was

not only a song, but an entirely new persona Bono was taking on. The band had grown tired of people saying they were "megalamaniacs" when they thought they were pretty humble. So Bono decided to show everyone how "mega" he could be and thus "The Fly" was born. shortly after the release of "The Fly," "Achtung Baby" was released in November. The album was completely different to any other U2 album and took some getting used to for many longtime U2 fans. The album's personal side and religious imagery quickly helped those get past the initial shock and discover what a terrific album Achtung Baby was. "Achtung" is German for "warning" or "caution" and fit perfectly for a warning of the seriouness of the album. From the distortion filled songs like "The Fly" and "Zoo Station" to the slow desparate songs like "One" and "So Cruel" the album was astonishing.

What had started out to be a 6 song EP in their time off turned into a full album and "Zooropa" was released in July of 1993. While many expected this to be an "Achtung Baby 2," as usual they were in for a surprise. Zooropa explored new areas of music including a more techno sound. While it had some traditional style U2 songs, some fans were turned off by this new U2 sound.
The ZooTV tour started up again in May refurbished with more hi-tech gadgets and some of the new Zooropa songs. They played to sold out shows in Europe, Australia, and Asia before wrapping up ZooTV at home back in Ireland.